Prefabricated building and roof panel for same

ABSTRACT

A building is constructed with spaced uprights, each upright having a projecting tongue at the top. Specially formed inverted channel sections set astraddle of these tongues and bolted thereto constitute rafter elements extending crosswise of the building and in gable and hip roofs these rafters slope upwardly from the posts and are joined at the ridge. Prefabricated roof panels have spaced inverted channels that nest over the rafters. The roof panels are lowered into position in a vertical plane, rested edgewise on the rafters and then swung over down to rest on the rafters. A gabled roof usually has two panels on each of its two slopes, each panel extending the full length of the roof. The outermost panels on each slope are first put into place and then the inner ones. The lower panels are swung from the vertical plane toward the ridge of the roof and the upper ones are swung down from the ridge toward the eaves to properly overlap. Uprights at the building corners are outwardly-facing angle sections through the flanges of which bolts are passed and screwed into nuts welded on the abutting vertical ends of the end wall panels, after which a cover member is secured in place.

United States Patent 191 Lerch et al.

[451 Nov. 13, 1973 C. Otis, Monroeville; John D. Montgomery, Washington, all of Pa.

[73] Assignee: Advance Housing Corporation,

Pittsburgh, Pa.

22 Filed: July 8,1971

21 Appl. No.: 160,846

[52] US. Cl 52/93, 52/475, 52/478, 52/512 [51] Int. Cl E04b 7/04 [58] Field of Search 52/93, 92, 506, 512, 52/555, 475, 478, 480

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,668,828 6/1972 Nicholas 52/93 3,662,509 6/1972 Studzinski 52/478 2,396,829 3/1946 Carpenter 52/518 3,360,892 1/1968 Rosso 52/93 1,262,156 4/1918 Adrian.... 52/93 1,988,388 l/l935 Mioton ..'52/92 2,847,948 8/1958 Truitt 52/518 3,373,534 3/1968 Berridge 52/550 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 689,314 3/1953 Great Britain 52/478 France 52/92 Primary Examiner-Frank L. Abbott Assistant Examiner-Leslie A. Braun Attorney-Parmelee, Utzler & Welsh 5 7 ABSTRACT A building is constructed with spaced uprights, each upright having a projecting tongue at the top. Specially formed inverted channel sections set astraddle of these tongues and bolted thereto constitute rafter elements extending crosswise of the building and in gable and hip roofs these rafters slope upwardly from the posts and are joined at the ridge. Prefabricated roof panels have spaced inverted channels that nest over the rafters. The roof panels are lowered into position in a vertical plane, rested edgewise on the rafters and then swung over down to rest on the rafters. A gabled roof usually has two panels on each of its two slopes, each panel extending the full length of the roof. The outermost panels on each slope are first put into place and then the inner ones. The lower panels are swung from the vertical plane toward the ridge of the roof and the upper ones are swung down from the ridge toward the eaves to properly overlap. Uprights at the building corners are outwardly-facing angle sections through the flanges of which bolts are passed and screwed into nuts welded on the abutting vertical ends of the end wall panels, after which a cover member is secured in place.

13 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures PATENTEDNUY13 I973 SHEET 10F 2 lNl/ENTORS ADOLPH F. LERCH, NICK 6. 07/5 and OHN D. M N760 fir Ma i/ their flamers PATENTED HUY 1 3 I975 SHEET 2 0F 2 PREFABRICATED BUILDING AND ROOF PANEL FOR SAME This invention is for a prefabricated building and method of assembling it, and is designed to provide a building and assembly method that will contribute to economical production and avoid some costly areas of construction heretofore encountered.

Various low cost housing constructions utilizing prefabricated building units have heretofore been devised, but insofar as we are informed the roof construction has undesirably limited the width of buildings or required a considerable amount of on-the-job skilled labor to construct.

This is due largely to the fact that prefabricated roof panels of acceptable length up to as much as 60 feet can be hauled to the building site on trucks, but a width of more than 8 feet exceeds normal highway limitations if they are placed flat on the truck bed, and even if they were hauled in an edgewise position on the truck, they could not be much wider because of overpass height limitations as well as the excessive weight involved to provide strength for hauling and subsequent erection of such unwieldy structures.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION With the present invention roof panels are prefabricated with a sheet metal deck and a supporting understructure comprising inverted channels on the same center-to-center spacing as the rafters of the building, the channels and rafters being shaped to interfit so that after the rafters have been secured in place, the prefabricated roof panels can be set directly on them and bolted into place. More specifically, but without limitation as to other forms, in a simple four-sided building having a gabled roof each panel will have a length corresponding to the full length of the building, or full length of a section of the building where the roof is a simple gabled roof, but not exceeding the length that may be hauled on a truck. Each panel is rigid enough to be placed edgewise on the truck for transportation several at one time from a place of manufacture to the place where they are to be used. According to this invention' there will generally be two longitudinally extending panels on each slope of a double-sloped or gabled roof, or four panels in all, but in narrow buildings there could be fewer, and there may be more in larger structures. Each prefabricated panel comprises a sheet metal deck carried on an under-structure formed of rolled sheet metal sections. Some of these sections comprise inverted channels at spaced intervals. In the final structure these inverted channel sections extend up and down the slope of the roof and, for convenience, they will he sometimes termed herein as secondary rafters." Extending in the direction of the length of the panel between the inverted channels and welded thereto are purlins comprised of channels set edgewise.

In such a building the walls on each of two long sides include rigid uprights at the corners and at intervals between the corners, the uprights along one side being directly opposite those along the other. Each of these uprights has a special fitment at the top over which a rafter element in the form of a modified rolled metal channel section is set, the rafter straddling the fitment and being bolted thereto. The rafter elements are in two sections of such length that, in a gabled roof, the free ends of two opposed rafter sections come into abutting relation at a level higher than the tops of the uprights, that is at the ridge of the roof, where the abutting ends are secured together. For purposes of convenience these sections will herein sometimes be referred to as primary rafters. No ridge pole is necessary, and no longitudinal spacing members extend from one set of rafters to another, but the center-to-center spacing of the primary rafters is the same as the center-to-center spacing of the secondary rafters of the roof panels so that when a roof panel is set down on the primary rafters, the secondary rafters will nest or fit over the primary ones, thereby rigidly integrating the primary rafters and the roof panels. Subsequently applied bolts passing through both the primary and secondary rafters are put in place to unite the assembled roof structure.

In the preferred procedure the outer or lowermost panels which will provide the eaves for the building will first be put into place, one panel being first lifted edgewise by a crane and positioned so that the lower edge of the panel contacts the outer ends of the primary rafters and the lower ends of the secondary rafters are in register with the primary rafters. When so positioned the panel is then swung down to its final sloping position with its secondary rafters fitting over the primary rafters. Then the other outer panel is similarly placed in position on the opposite slope of the roof. This gives rigidity to the roof and the second or upper panels are put in place and lowered, following the procedure hereinafter more fully explained.

With a roof so constructed and assembled, the width of the building is not limited by the width of the load that may be carried on an over-the-road truck, and except for a crane operator, little skilled labor is required on the building site for erecting the roof. Moreover, it becomes possible to provide overhanging eaves on the building without undesirably reducing the inside width of the house or other building.

The uprights at the corners preferably are outwardly facing angle sections drilled at intervals along both flanges, and bolts entered through these openings screw into the end faces of side and end wall-forming panels of the building. After the siding panels have thus been secured in place, a cover is secured in place along the full height of each such corner column to give the column a finished or square appearance and protect the bolts from further access.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention may be more fully understood in the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a single roof panel with portions broken away to show the underlying structure;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical section through a roof panel constructed according to FIG. 1, the section being in substantially the plane of line II-- II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevation of one of the intermediate uprights;

FIG. 4 is a transverse section in the plane of line IV-IV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an elevation of a corner upright;

FIG. 6 is a transverse section in the plane of line VI-Vl of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the completed roof assembly;

FIG. 8 is an end view looking into the incomplete building structure with the primary rafters on two opposed uprights in place;

FIG. 9 is a transverse section through a single roof panel in the plane of line IXIX of FIG. 1, the panel being a lower or eaves-forming panel;

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 8 illustrating the placing of the roof panels in place on the rafters;

FIG. 11 is a partial transverse section through a completed gable roof;

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary view, showing in better detail opposite ends of a primary rafter and the cooperating ends of the upper and lower roof panels; and

FIG. 13 is a horizontal section at one end of the building showing the end wall extending between two corner uprights and the manner of making the assembly; and also showing the ends of the side wall panels of the building.

Referring now to the drawings, the roof structure here shown is a gable roof and it comprises four generally similar elongated rectangular panels, designated in FIG. 10 as Al and A2 and B1 and B2, extending lengthwise of the building. Since they are all of generally similar construction, only one of them, Al shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 9 will be described, but it may be noted as here shown, that panels B1 and B2, are narrower than panels A1 and A2, but this is optional. In these figures 5 designates a corrugated sheet metal deck of a familiar form. At each end of the deck there is an inwardly facing channel 6 turned edgewise, and at intervals under the deck there are inverted channels 7 parallel with the end channels, the channels 7 being rolled heavy gauge sheet metal sections. They are the sections hereinbefore referred to as the secondary roof rafters and typically will be spaced several feet apart. The inverted channels 7 are connected by purlins extending lengthwise of each roof panel. In the panels Al and A2 the purlins or elements 8 along the outer edge of the panels, which comprise the eaves of the roof, are channel sections of heavy gauge sheet metal set edgewise and facing inwardly, that is, the flanges of these channel sections turn toward the longitudinal center of the panels and are continuous for the full length of the panel. All of the other purlins, designated 9, extend from one secondary rafter 7 to the next, abutting at their ends against the inverted channels, and they are welded thereto. The purlins are also of rolled heavy gauge sheet metal and are in the form of channel sections set edgewise. Those purlin sections 9 which are along the edges of the panels, have their flanges turned inwardly, that is toward the longitudinal center of the panel. This enables the vertical web portions of the purlins of two confronting panels to be joined together in back-toback relation as shown in FIG. 11, both at the ridge of the roof and at the joint between the two panels on the same slope of the roof.

This rigidly connected system of secondary rafters and purlins forms a strong under-structure for the sheet metal deck which is made further rigid by the spaced corrugations formed in the deck itself. The deck is spot welded at intervals to the under-structure. Typically a panel will be as much as 60 feet in length, this being about the maximum that can be hauled on over-theroad trucks. Typically the panels may be of the order of six to eight feet wide, but these dimensions will vary according to the size and cost of the house. For example with four six and one-half foot panels the building may have an overhang at the eaves of the order of two feet and still be 22 feet from the exterior of one side wall to the exterior of the other. Moreover, as shown in the drawings the panels A1 and A2 need not be the same width as panels B1 and B2 but may be wider or narrower.

After the deck and under-structure have been assembled at the fabricating plant, the deck is covered with roofing material, such as composition shingles l0 adhesively secured thereto, both for sound-deadening and to render them more architecturally acceptable. Panels such as these can be prefabricated and readily transferred to a flat bed truck and hauled either flat or edgewise to the building site.

Before the roof panels can be put in place a series of spaced rigid uprights will have been firmly anchored to a foundation or on piers on which the house is to set, these uprights being at least, and usually only, the height required for a one-story dwelling, since this structure is particularly designed for, but not restricted to, a so-called ranch type or single-story building. They are along each long side of the building, or the plane of the side walls (not shown) with the posts of one row being in transverse alignment with those of the other row.

The corner posts or uprights 15 are preferably heavy metal angle sections mounted on a base 16 which is bolted to the foundation or other support with the two flanges of the channels turned outwardly (see FIGS. 5 and 6). The posts intermediate the corner ones (FIGS. 3 and 4), designated 17, are of any desired section, preferably a square tubular section or perhaps an H- section. They, too, are each rigidly welded or otherwise secured to a base 18 for bolting them to a foundation. The tops of all of the uprights are in vertical and horizontal alignment, and welded or otherwise secured to the top of each post is a fitment 19 which may be a malleable casting or of other rigid material, having a base 19a and an upstanding tongue 19b through which is a hole 20. Allof the tongues are set crosswise'of the length of the building so that the holes 20 of all of these fitments at one side are in a line and those on the other side are likewise in a line. The center-to-center distance between tongues 19b is exactly the same as the center-tocenter distance of the inverted channels or secondary rafters 7 of the roof panels.

There are provided rafters 25 for the building, the length of the rafters being about equal to the sum of the width of the panels to be supported on them. For example, if there are to be two roof panels on each slope of the roof, and each panel is 6 feet wide, the rafters on a simple gabled roof would be 12 feet long. For convenience we refer to the rafters 25 as the primary rafters. They are preferably heavy gauge sheet metal sections of a deep but narrow inverted channel form with a ledge along the bottom of each side flange, and there is an upturned flange along the outer edge of each ledge, a shape sometimes referred to as a double J section. They may be made from a single strip of metal or by overlapping and welding the tops of two J sections facing in opposite directions. Being relatively deep, this section has good strength as a beam, and with the ledges and edge flanges has adequate strength to resist twisting under heavy loads so that it is a strong but light-weight section.

One rafter is set on each upright, so that the tongue of the fitment enters the inverted channel of the rafter,

and a bolt 26 is passed through holes in the rafter which register with the hole in the fitment on which the rafter sets. The free ends of the rafters most remote from the bolts 26 on opposed uprights are directed toward each other and are in abutting relation at the ridge of the roof, sloping downwardly and outwardly from the ridge toward the eaves. A splice plate or connection plate 27 is inserted in the inverted channel portions of the double J sections and tightly bolted to the confronting raf ter ends to rigidly connect them, thereby integrating each two opposed rafters into a unitary structure, herein sometimes referred to as a rafter element.

Sometimes the two opposing primary rafters may be joined togehter at the ridge while they are on the ground, and the pair or element when so connected, then raised by a crane or otherwise into position and set over the tongues of the fitments to which they are to be secured, and then bolted in place. In either case the primary rafters are relatively light weight sections that may, if desired, be hauled to the building site along with the roof panels and joined together at the building site, either after they are individually secured to their respective uprights, or spliced together on the ground and then positioned on and secured to the two opposed uprights on which the assembly is carried.

It will be noted that the intermediate upright posts 17 have an angle-shaped receiving plate 28 welded or otherwise secured to the upper end below the fitment 19, the plate providing a ledge 28a on which the end of a transversely extending inverted structural T section 29 is rested, these sections spanning the distance between two opposite uprights. The ends of the T section are bolted to the ledges 28a on which they rest to provide ties or tension bars that resist the end thrust of the rafters against the uprights on which they are carried, and incidentally these tie bars are useful in supporting ceiling panels (not shown) in the finished building. At the ends of the building the end walls tie opposite corner posts together as hereinafter more fully'described.

Having secured the ties and primary rafters in place, the building is now ready to receive the roof panels. This is accomplished by first raising one of the outer panels A] or A2 edgewise, usually by a crane (not shown) having a chain or cable and hooks which are engaged in openings for that purpose in the innermost purlins 9.

With the panel suspended in a vertical plane, and with its long axis parallel with the length of the building, the panel is lowered until its lower edge, including the section 8 at the lower edge is just below the overhanging ends of the rafters, and the inverted channels or secondary rafters 7 are centered with respect to the rafters, as shown in FIG. and the panel is then swung inwardly with its upper edge swinging toward the ridge of the roof. As the panel comes to rest on the rafters, each inverted channel 7 fits over or nests on one of the rafters as clearly seen in FIG. 7. With the first roof panel A1 in place, one or more bolts 30 are passed through the inverted channels 7 and the upper portions of the inverted channel or double J rafter sections 25 to thereby tie the roof panels to the rafters and thereby to the building structure.

With one roof panel in place, the rafters are now rigidly spaced with respect to one another, and the next roof panel A2 at the other side of the building is thenplaced on and secured to the rafters of the opposite slope of the roof in the same manner. With the panels A1 and A2 in place, the ridge panels B1 and B2 are then put in place. As best seen in FIG. 10 these panels are also lifted edgewise and lowered onto the rafters in an initially generally vertical plane, but the edge of the panel at'the ridge is first lowered onto the rafters and then the panel is swung downwardly through an arc toward the upper edge of the panel below. The upper panels are lowered in this way from the ridge toward the outer or lower section so that the edge of the upper panel and especially its shingles will overlap the top of the lower panel. Whether the deck sheet of the upper one slightly overlaps the lower one is a matter of choice, but in any case the shingles or other covering at the lower edge of the upper panel should overlap the upper edge of the lower one.

However, before the panels B1 and B2 can be lowered to their final position, the chains, hooks or cables by which they are lowered must be disconnected, so that, as indicated in FIG. 10, hydraulic or mechanical jack posts 31, preferably two or three of them with one near each end of the panel will support the panel when the hoisting gear of whatever nature is disconnected, and by approximate simultaneous operation of the jacks the final lowering of the ridge panels into position is effected. If, in a narrow building, there is but a single panel on each slope of the roof, only the second panel to be put into place is, if necessary, lowered with the use of jacks. Should it be desirable to have more than two panels on one slope of the roof, each panel after the first would be placed on the roof in the same manner as the ride panels in order to have a proper overlap of the panels.

In order to control the swinging of the panel sections from a vertical plane to a position at rest on the primary rafters, the top web portion of the primary rafter is cut away at the lower end of the rafter, as indicated at 32 in FIG. 12. The matching inverted channel 7 of the roof panel has a round metal section, such as a short section of rod or a bolt 33 extending across its interior against the web of the inverted channel 7. This cross piece is brought to rest on the cut-away end of the rafter forming in effect a pivot about which the panel swings into position, and the cut-away portion or notch accommodates the pin when the roof panel is fully seated. It is also a helpful gauge in getting the panel initially into position to swing down. The upper end of each primary rafter is similarly notched at 32a to cooperate with a fix pin or rod-like element 34 at the ridge end of the inverted channels 7. This is of importance in effecting the downward swing of the roof panel and providing, in effect, fixed pivots while preventing'the panel from sliding down the rafters.

The channel section purlins 9 at the upper edge of the lower panels and the lower edges of the upper panels are at right angles to the plane of the panel and have their respective channel flanges turned toward the longitudinal center of their respective panels so that, as shown in FIG. 11, these purlins make back-to-back contact and are bolted together at 35, thus tying the panels together and, in effect, integrating the secondary rafters 7 into an effectively continuous section.

The purlins 9 at the upper edges of the upper panels are so angled and positioned that they, too, come together in abutting back-to-back contact, the plane of these purlins when in place at the ridge of the roof being vertical with respect to a plane level with the floor (not shown) of the finished building. These purlins are bolted together at 36.

The roof is now structurally complete except that a cover strip 37 is placed along the ridge. It may be cemented or otherwise secured in place, and in addition a mastic or other filling (not shown) may be provided along the juncture of the two abutting ridge purlins to assure moisture exclusion. It is contemplated that the under surface of the roof will be covered with a foamed plastic (not shown) and forming no part per se of the present invention. For providing a finished appearance to the building a thin gauge coated metal strip is riveted or secured in place along and over the channel 8 on the lower edge of the roof panel (see SlGS. 7 and 11) and also such trim is placed over the channels 6 at the ends of the roof and it conceals the joint where the end channels 6 of the upper and lower panels abut. These cover strips may be secured to the assembled roof by metal screws, poprivets or other easily applied fastening means that can be applied in the field.

With the present invention the installation of the roof requires but a few minutes after the uprights have been secured in place. The primary rafters are easily put in position and their abutting ends joined. The interfitting of the under-structure of the roof panels and the primary rafters enables the panels to be raised vertically into place and then swung down onto the rafters, pivoting in effect, into position to rest on the primary rafters. As the panels are put into place the entire roof becomes an integrated strong, rigid structure.

As mentioned earlier, the angle section of the corner uprights 15, in addition to supporting the end roof rafters, also facilitate the tying together of the two sides of the building at the ends through the use of end wall panels that may in part serve as tension members between the posts at the ends of the buildings in place of the inverted T sections. This is shown in FIG. 13 where the side wall panels are indicated at 40 and the end panel, which desirably extends or has elements that extend, across the entire width of the building, is designated 41. The panels 40 and 41 each have a vertical frame member 42 of channel section at the end thereof, and there are nuts 43 welded to the inner faces of these channels. Bolts 44 pass through holes in the flanges of the corner post and are screwed into the fixed nuts 43 to draw the end frame members 42 tightly against the upright corner posts. When this has been done a cover member 45, which may be of relatively light gauge metal, also of angle section, is secured against the vertical frame member 42 to give the angular upright a square appearance and prevent any one from securing access to the bolts 44.

While we have described our invention primarily for use in a gabled roof construction, it may also be used in the erection of hip-roofs, and sloped deck type roofs or elsewhere where primary rafter elements may be first erected and then complete panels placed thereon and fitted over the primary rafters, and in all cases the roof panel will have two or more inverted channels, such as 7, to nest over a minimum of two rafters. At the peak ends of a hip roof, for example, the rafters would converge and the inverted channels 7 in that case would not be parallel. As previously explained, there may be single panels on each slope of the roof of a narrow building, but the present invention is more especially useful in constructing wider building and buildings with overhanging eaves where there maybe four or more panels in the roof. By arranging panels that may be hauled edgewise on a truck, say four panels in all, and joining them on the roof where the primary rafters require no ridge pole or purlins, there is little skilled labor required on the job and factory assembly of the roof panels enables them to be constructed economically, especiallyin mass production, and to close tolerances. The construction lends itself to use with prefabricated side and end walls and interior partitions which will be apparent to those skilled in the art. We claim:

1. A building construction comprising:

a. a row of spaced uprights along each of at least two opposite sides of the building, the uprights at one side being transversely aligned with those of the other, each upright having an upwardly projecting tongue thereon,

b. primary rafter elements extending from each upright at one side to the aligned upright at the other side, the ends of the primary rafter elements being secured to upwardly-projecting tongues of the respective uprights between which they extend, and

c. roof panels secured to said primary rafter elements extending the length of its roof crosswise of the rafter elements in abutting relation to each other, each such panel comprising:

1. a sheet metal deck having upper and lower surfaces,

2. inverted channel'elements secured to the lower surface of the deck and which extend in the same direction as the primary rafter elements and which are on a center-to-center spacing corresponding to the center-to-center spacing of the primary rafter elements, said inverted channels nesting over the primary rafter elements, and

3. purlins under the sheet metal deck extending longitudinally between the inverted channels with their ends abutting the inverted channels and secured thereto.

2. A building construction as defined in claim 1 in which bolts pass transversely through some of the inverted channels of the roof panels and the rafter over which the inverted channel is nested for securing the roof panel to the rafters.

3. A building construction as defined in claim 1 in which the inverted channels of the roof panel and the rafters are of heavy gauge sheet metal and the rafter elements are also of an inverted channel section, the channel portion of which is deeper than the inverted channel sections of the roof panels, the rafter elements having laterally extending ledges along each bottom edge of the inverted channel portion, said ledges having upwardly turned flanges thereon to provide a double J section, the tongues on the uprights projecting into said inverted channel portion near the ends of the rafter elements and a bolt extends transversely through the inverted channel portion of the rafter and the intervening tongue for securing the respective rafter elements to the uprights to which they connect.

4. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein the metal deck of each panel has composition roofing cemented thereto, the composition roofing of one panel projecting beyond an edge of the panel and overlapping the composition roofing of an abutting lower panel.

5. A building construction as defined in claim 1 wherein each one of the rafter elements comprise two separate members which slope upwardly from the uprights to a peak where their confronting ends are spliced together integrating them into a unitary structure.

6. A building construction as defined in claim in which each of said two members is a heavy gauge sheet metal double section with an inverted channel portion and the tongues on the uprights project into and are secured to the said channel portions of the members which they support.

7. A building construction as defined in claim 5 in which the upper ends of each two of said transversely aligned uprights are connected by across tie means to resist stresses tending to spread them away from each other.

8. The invention defined in claim 5 wherein the purlins of one panel abut and are joined to the purlins of an adjacent panel.

9. For use in a building having spaced supporting rafters extending from one of two sides to the other, a roof panel comprising:

a. a sheet metal deck elongated in the direction of the length of the building,

b. an integrated under-structure attached to said deck, said under-structure comprising inverted channels spaced the same as the spacing of the rafters and positioned when the panel is in place to nest over the rafters, and purlins secured to and extending lengthwise between the inverted channels,

c. the inverted channels and the purlins being also sheet metal sections. I

10. A building panel as defined in claim 9 wherein a panel which is designed to be positioned along the eaves of the building has one purlin in the position of a facia strip at the lower ends of the inverted channels extending continuously from one end of the panel to the other and which is ofa width greater than the other purlins which extend between the inverted channels.

11. A building panel as defined in claim 9 wherein the metal deck has composition roofing over the upper surface thereof, said roofing projecting beyond one longitudinal edge of the panel in such manner as to overlap and edge of an abutting lower panel when two such panels are placed lengthwise in abutting side-byside relation on the rafters.

12. A building panel as defined in claim 9 wherein at least some of the purlins are channel sections located along at least one edge of a panel with its flanges turned toward the longitudinal center line of the panel whereby when two panels so constructed are positioned side-by-side on the rafters the surfaces of the confronting purlins will be in contacting back-to-back relation.

13. A building constructioncomprising:

a. a plurality of spaced uprights at spaced intervals about the building, each with a projection at the top thereof,

b. upwardly and inwardly sloping primary rafter members, each being secured near its outer end to one said projection on the upright and sloping upwardly and inwardly toward a peak where it is connected with the end of at least one other such rafter member, each primary rafter member having an inverted channel portion extending lengthwise thereof,

0. and a plurality of lengthwise-extending abutting roof panels secured to and extending crosswise of a plurality of primary rafter members, each such roof panel comprising:

1. a sheet metal deck having upper and lower surfaces,

2. a supporting under-structure to which the deck is secured, said under-structure having at least two channels which are positioned and spaced to nest along their length over the channel portions of at least two rafters, the under-structure further comprising a plurality of purlins which are secured in spaced relation to each other between the channels. 

1. A building construction comprising: a. a row of spaced uprights along each of at least two opposite sides of the building, the uprights at one side being transversely aligned with those of the other, each upright having an upwardly projecting tongue thereon, b. primary rafter elements extending from each upright at one side to the aligned upright at the other side, the ends of the primary rafter elements being secured to upwardly-projecting tongues of the respective uprights between which they extend, and c. roof panels secured to said primary rafter elements extending the length of its roof crosswise of the rafter elements in abutting relation to each other, each such panel comprising:
 1. a sheet metal deck having upper and lower surfaces,
 2. inverted channel elements secured to the lower surface of the deck and which extend in tHe same direction as the primary rafter elements and which are on a center-to-center spacing corresponding to the center-to-center spacing of the primary rafter elements, said inverted channels nesting over the primary rafter elements, and
 3. purlins under the sheet metal deck extending longitudinally between the inverted channels with their ends abutting the inverted channels and secured thereto.
 2. inverted channel elements secured to the lower surface of the deck and which extend in tHe same direction as the primary rafter elements and which are on a center-to-center spacing corresponding to the center-to-center spacing of the primary rafter elements, said inverted channels nesting over the primary rafter elements, and
 2. A building construction as defined in claim 1 in which bolts pass transversely through some of the inverted channels of the roof panels and the rafter over which the inverted channel is nested for securing the roof panel to the rafters.
 2. a supporting under-structure to which the deck is secured, said under-structure having at least two channels which are positioned and spaced to nest along their length over the channel portions of at least two rafters, the under-structure further comprising a plurality of purlins which are secured in spaced relation to each other between the channels.
 3. A building construction as defined in claim 1 in which the inverted channels of the roof panel and the rafters are of heavy gauge sheet metal and the rafter elements are also of an inverted channel section, the channel portion of which is deeper than the inverted channel sections of the roof panels, the rafter elements having laterally extending ledges along each bottom edge of the inverted channel portion, said ledges having upwardly turned flanges thereon to provide a double J section, the tongues on the uprights projecting into said inverted channel portion near the ends of the rafter elements and a bolt extends transversely through the inverted channel portion of the rafter and the intervening tongue for securing the respective rafter elements to the uprights to which they connect.
 3. purlins under the sheet metal deck extending longitudinally between the inverted channels with their ends abutting the inverted channels and secured thereto.
 4. The invention defined in claim 1 wherein the metal deck of each panel has composition roofing cemented thereto, the composition roofing of one panel projecting beyond an edge of the panel and overlapping the composition roofing of an abutting lower panel.
 5. A building construction as defined in claim 1 wherein each one of the rafter elements comprise two separate members which slope upwardly from the uprights to a peak where their confronting ends are spliced together integrating them into a unitary structure.
 6. A building construction as defined in claim 5 in which each of said two members is a heavy gauge sheet metal double J section with an inverted channel portion and the tongues on the uprights project into and are secured to the said channel portions of the members which they support.
 7. A building construction as defined in claim 5 in which the upper ends of each two of said transversely aligned uprights are connected by a cross tie means to resist stresses tending to spread them away from each other.
 8. The invention defined in claim 5 wherein the purlins of one panel abut and are joined to the purlins of an adjacent panel.
 9. For use in a building having spaced supporting rafters extending from one of two sides to the other, a roof panel comprising: a. a sheet metal deck elongated in the direction of the length of the building, b. an integrated under-structure attached to said deck, said under-structure comprising inverted channels spaced the same as the spacing of the rafters and positioned when the panel is in place to nest over the rafters, and purlins secured to and extending lengthwise between the inverted channels, c. the inverted channels and the purlins being also sheet metal sections.
 10. A building panel as defined in claim 9 wherein a panel which is designed to be positioned along the eaves of the building has one purlin in the position of a facia strip at the lower ends of the inverted channels extending continuously from one end of the panel to the other and which is of a width greater than the other purlins which extend between the inverted channels.
 11. A building panel as defined in claim 9 wherein the metal deck has composition roofing over the upper surface thereof, said roofing projecting beyond one longitudinal edge of the panel in such manner as to overlap and edge of an abutting lower panel when two such panels are placed lengthwise in abutting side-by-side relation on the rafters.
 12. A building panel as defined in claim 9 wherein at least some of the purlins are Channel sections located along at least one edge of a panel with its flanges turned toward the longitudinal center line of the panel whereby when two panels so constructed are positioned side-by-side on the rafters the surfaces of the confronting purlins will be in contacting back-to-back relation.
 13. A building construction comprising: a. a plurality of spaced uprights at spaced intervals about the building, each with a projection at the top thereof, b. upwardly and inwardly sloping primary rafter members, each being secured near its outer end to one said projection on the upright and sloping upwardly and inwardly toward a peak where it is connected with the end of at least one other such rafter member, each primary rafter member having an inverted channel portion extending lengthwise thereof, c. and a plurality of lengthwise-extending abutting roof panels secured to and extending crosswise of a plurality of primary rafter members, each such roof panel comprising: 